Thursday, May 20, 2010

I am still trying to get a handle on e-publishing, how it will work, and what it might mean to me and others. So I continue to research. Recently, my Type My colleague Peter May posted “Talk of the Devil” in which he questioned the need for publishers, suggesting writers use the e-book format to go it alone. I countered that theory in my post “Why We Need Publishers,” but I’m still not sure about any of it.

However, a recent article has me thinking.

The May 17 online edition of Publishers Weekly has an industry news brief titled “Konrath Moves 'Jack Daniels' Series to AmazonEncore.” The article made me more than a little curious and, upon reading more on the topic, has me thinking optimistically about some options for my first novel CUT SHOT, now out of print.

After publishing six novels with Hyperion, Konrath is changing publishers in large part because of Amazon’s electronic means. “I signed a print deal with a company that can e-mail every single person who has ever bought one of my books through their website,” Konrath wrote on his blog A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing, “plus millions of potential new customers. I’ve never had that kind of marketing power behind one of my novels. I’d be an idiot not to do this.”

When it comes to e-publishing, Konrath knows what he’s talking about. He pays to have covers designed, uploads to books using Amazon's Digital Text Platform, and charges only $1.99. Some of his titles were never published, having been rejected by New York’s traditional houses. He reports that by keeping his prices down, he currently sells 180 e-books a day. I have no way to verify his sales figures, but PW took his word for it. And, according to a recent interview, Konrath estimates that given such a brisk sales pace coupled with Amazon’s new electronic royalty rates (70%), he’s on pace to earn $134,000 a year on e-titles.

Too good to be true?

I don’t know. I have read Konrath’s blog for years, so I am well aware that few writers know grassroots promotion as well as he does. But I think 180 books a day is pretty remarkable. Konrath says he’s “making $4k a month selling ebooks that NY rejected.”

7 comments:

Read Jason Pinter's response (in Huff Po) to Konrath. Jason says that Konrath has first of all a following and a track record that he made while being published by a major publishing house. That meants rewrites/edits/more rewrites/rejections. That is where Konrath honed his craft and created a following, and that is the only reason his new venture is successful. Pinter, in fact says, that self-publishing will destroy promising writers by not making them revise and learn.

No one promotes himself (or admires his own abilities) more than J.A. Konrath. He's an amazingly driven author with an ego to match and he's always ready to tell you all about his latest masterful achievement. But the man is brutally honest and if he says he's selling 180 e-books a day and he says he's on pace to earn 134K from e-book sales this year, I believe him.

Rick Blechta writes on Tuesdays

Barbara Fradkin writes on alternate Wednesdays

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Donis Casey writes on alternate Thursdays

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Frankie Bailey writes on Alternate Fridays

Vicki Delany writes on the second weekend of every month

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Aline Templeton

Aline Templeton lives in Edinburgh in a house with a balcony overlooking the beautiful city skyline. Her series featuring DI Marjory Fleming is set in beautiful Galloway, in South-west Scotland. alinetempleton.co.uk

Marianne Wheelaghan

Marianne is from Edinburgh. She left home at seventeen. After a heap of travelling, which included living in Kiribati, the third most remote country in the world, she ended back in Edinburgh where she still lives very happily. Her crime mysteries feature DS Louisa Townsend, The Scottish Lady Detective, and are mostly set in the Pacific. Read more about Marianne and her books on her blog: www.mariannewheelaghan.co.uk and at @MWheelaghan

Rick Blechta

Rick has two passions in life, mysteries and music, and his thrillers contain liberal doses of both. He has two upcoming releases, Roses for a Diva, his sequel to The Fallen One, for Dundurn Press, and for Orca’s Rapid Reads series, The Boom Room, a second book featuring detectives Pratt & Ellis. You can learn more about what he’s up to at www.rickblechta.com. From the musical side, Rick leads a classic soul band in Toronto. Check out SOULidifiedband.com. And lastly, being a former line cook with an interest in all things culinary, he has a blog dedicated to food: A Man for All Seasonings.

Barbara Fradkin

Barbara Fradkin is a retired psychologist with a fascination for how we turn bad. Her dark short stories haunt the Ladies Killing Circle anthologies, but she is best known for her award-winning series featuring the quixotic, exasperating Ottawa Police Inspector Michael Green, published by Dundurn Press. The ninth book, The Whisper of Legends, was published in April 2013. Visit Barbara at barbarafradkin.com.

Sybil Johnson

Sybil Johnson’s love affair with reading began in kindergarten with “The Three Little Pigs.” Visits to the library introduced her to Encyclopedia Brown, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and a host of other characters. Fast forward to college where she continued reading while studying Computer Science. After a rewarding career in the computer industry, Sybil decided to try her hand at writing mysteries. Her short fiction has appeared in Mysterical-E and Spinetingler Magazine, among others. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in Southern California where she enjoys tole painting, studying ancient languages and spending time with friends and family. Find her at www.authorsybiljohnson.com.

John R Corrigan

John R. Corrigan is D.A. Keeley, author of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Peyton Cote series, which is set along the Maine-Canada border. Bitter Crossing (summer 2014) will be the first of at least three novels in the series. Born in Augusta, Maine, he lives with his wife and three daughters at Northfield Mount Hermon School in western Massachusetts, where he is English department chair, a teacher, a hockey coach, and may very well be the only mystery writer in North America who also serves as a dorm parent to 50 teenage girls. A Mainer through and through, he tries to get to Old Orchard Beach, Maine, as often as possible. You can see what he's up to by visiting www.amazon.com/author/DAKeeley or dakeeleyauthor.blogspot.com or on Twitter (@DAKeeleyAuthor).

Donis Casey

Donis is the author of six Alafair Tucker Mysteries. Her award-winning series, featuring the sleuthing mother of ten children, is set in Oklahoma during the booming 1910s. Donis is a former teacher, academic librarian, and entrepreneur. She lives in Tempe, AZ, with her husband, poet Donald Koozer. The latest Alafair Tucker novel, The Wrong Hill to Die On (Poisoned Pen Press, 2012), is available in paper or electronic format wherever books are sold. Readers can enjoy the first chapter of each book on her web site at www.doniscasey.com.

Frankie Bailey

Frankie Y. Bailey is a criminal justice professor who focuses on crime, history, and American culture. Her current project is a book about dress, appearance, and criminal justice. Her mystery series featuring crime historian Lizzie Stuart is set mainly in the South. Her near-future police procedural series featuring Detective Hannah McCabe is set in Albany, New York. Visit Frankie at frankieybailey.com.

Charlotte Hinger

Charlotte Hinger is a novelist and Western Kansas historian. Convinced that mystery writing and historical investigation go hand in hand, she now applies her MA in history to academic articles and her depraved imagination to the Lottie Albright series for Poisoned Pen Press. charlottehinger.com

Vicki Delany/Eva Gates

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers. She is the author of more than 25 books, including the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year Round Christmas cozy series, the Constable Molly Smith books, standalone novels of suspense, the Klondike Gold Rush series, and novellas for adult literacy. As Eva Gates, she is the author of the national bestselling Lighthouse Library cozy series from Penguin. Find Vicki at www.vickidelany.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor/

Mario Acevedo

Mario Acevedo is the author of the Felix Gomez detective-vampire series. His short fiction is included in the anthologies, You Don’t Have A Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens and Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery, and in Modern Drunkard Magazine. Mario lives with a dog in Denver, CO. His website is marioacevedo.com.